Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $195.38.

Several equities research analysts have commented on WWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $197.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Woodward from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Woodward from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Woodward Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WWD opened at $185.25 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $178.99 and its 200 day moving average is $170.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.39. Woodward has a fifty-two week low of $133.56 and a fifty-two week high of $201.64.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.39 million. Woodward had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Woodward will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Woodward’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Cohn sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.57, for a total value of $430,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,325.91. This represents a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas G. Cromwell sold 7,913 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $1,385,803.69. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,015,921.43. The trade was a 40.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,313 shares of company stock worth $10,752,072. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Woodward by 101.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 81.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Woodward Company Profile

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.